Unlikely Love
by Lollikayti
Summary: A love story


Hermione left the classroom visibly flustered and annoyed. He was so impossible to deal with. His torment made her days almost miserable. She left the room in a huff and sat down in the hallway to take a breath before her next class. Draco walked out into the hall and flashed her a smug smile while he slicked back his hair.

Pansy Parkinson came up behind Draco, laughed and shoved past him.

"Don't mind him Hermione,he's only going on like that because he likes you." She said very loudly and ran past Draco and on down the hall, laughing as she went.

His smile instantly fell away into a look of anger a embarrassment. He rushed past Hermione and on to his next class. Either Pansy was right, and he was mad about being called out, or she was just teasing and he was being overly sensitive about it. Hermione thought it had to be the latter. She laughed to herself, considering this a pretty fair payback for all his torment. She headed to her next class, already feeling a little better.

She noticed throughout the day that he still seemed upset so she decided to ask Pansy about it.

"He sure has trouble taking a joke doesn't he?" she whispers to her.

Pansy had a serious look on her face. "It

was pretty funny, but it wasn't a joke. He's shit at saying how he feels and that's why he comes off as an arrogant ass. I just figured you should know why he's acting that way. He just happens to be particularly upset that I gave away his little secret." she smiled and then went back to her workbook.

Hermione was shocked. She never thought it possible that he would even be remotely interested in her. He seemed so bent on bothering her that he never showed anything otherwise. She turned away from Pansy and tried to concentrate on her work. Thinking about it was very distracting. She decided for the first time, she may have to take this assignment home to finish it.

When she got off the bus that evening, she decided she would force herself to finish her work, and then decide what to do about the Draco situation. Once she was able to focus she finished the assignment rather quickly and then turned her thoughts to the problem at hand. At first she entertained the possibility that Pansy had lied to her as a joke on both her and Draco. After considering it for a moment, she decided Pansy seemed too serious to not be telling the truth. The fact was that Draco liked her, but was really crap at showing it.

She started seriously thinking about it. Draco seemed to really only pick on her, so he didn't seem like an actual bully or anything. Plus he was kind of cute. Maybe it would be worth a try. It had been over a year since she broke up with Ron, and they were on pretty good terms, so the timing felt right. She thought it would be a good idea to try and text him. That way he couldn't be too embarrassed, and might give her a sincere answer. So she decided to just cut to the chase and ask him (via text) if what Pansy said was true.

She finished typing and then breathed a sigh of relief. She figured most likely he would have some scathing response on how he could never like a goody two shoes teacher's pet like her, and then she could just not respond and move on with her life. It was a couple hours later when he finally responded.

"Why do you care?" Even his text sounded petulant. She almost didn't want to respond because of his attitude, but decided to give him a chance anyway. When she really thought about it it was kind of funny, how he was basically pouting.

" I care because maybe I like you too. Maybe we could get milkshakes after school tomorrow and talk about it. Alone. What do you think?" she decided to be blunt with him. She knew she was risking a world of embarrassment if he were to say no, but felt her chances were good enough to ask anyway. She didn't get a response until she was almost asleep that night.

"Sure." she stared at her screen for a moment, almost in disbelief. She started getting excited, but decided not to say anything else to him for the night. Wouldn't want to jinx it. Getting on the bus the next day, she was nervous that she may have made the wrong choice. As she walked into her first class, she instantly knew she made the right choice.

Draco made the kid next to her swap seats with him. His facial expression was an odd mixture of nerves and what appeared to be excitement. He said good morning to her as she sat down, and she responded with a smile. She was trying hard not to but was obviously starting to blush. They went through the rest of the class exchanging nervous smiles back and forth.

It was a really odd feeling. She had never experienced this before, not even with Ron. She felt almost giddy. She had never been able to just be fun and flirty with a boy before. It was a real surprise when he decided to take his tray and sit next to her at lunch. Crabbe and Goyle looked shocked that he would abandon them for her.

"Do you care if I join you?" he said.

"Of course you can, please sit." she said with a sweet smile. She moved her backpack to her other side and closed the textbook she was reading.

"Thanks. Before you say anything, I wanted to apologize. At first I thought I was being funny, until Pansy told me how badly I was upsetting you. At first I didn't believe her, but when I saw you after chemistry yesterday I knew it was true. Then Pansy ratted me out." he laughed nervously.

"It was embarrassing, but I deserved it. I was being an ass and I'm sorry. I'm glad you texted me. I would be happy to get shakes after school. My treat."

"That would be wonderful. Honestly I was really nervous to message you, but now I'm really glad I did. Do you want some of these fries? I get so many but can never finish them." She laughed and gestured towards her tray with a half eaten veggie burger and a huge pile of fries.

"Sure, thanks." he laughed and took a few fries from her tray and placed them on his. He could feel everyone's eyes on them, but he didn't care. She had such a confident energy about her, she certainly wasn't ashamed to be seen with him, so he felt he shouldn't be either. They sat and laughed for a minute. He then scooted a little closer to her and asked what she was reading. She told him she was reading ahead in the advanced chemistry textbook.

They talked about chemistry for a few minutes when she went to turn a page and he slowly placed his hand on hers. She didn't move or seem to mind, only looked up at him and smiled. The bell rang for everyone to head to their classes, and he grabbed her hand before she could leave.

"If you want, after school, we can take my car instead of you having to ride the bus home and then walk there, if you want.."

"That would be great, I was really afraid having to go home first would make me late. Thanks, I'll see you then." She squeezed his hand and smiled before letting go and heading to class.

"Great, see you then." he smiles and waves as she walks away. His friends looked at him like they could bust out laughing at any moment. He shot them an icy glare making it clear they would regret anything they were about to say.

"Goyle, you've never had a girlfriend in your life, so you can shut it right now. Same for you Crabbe. Plus she's just a really nice girl. She's really confident and beautiful,and really smart too. She has more intelligence in her pinky finger than either of you have in your fat bodies." He poked Crabbes belly forcefully with his finger to emphasise his point. He wanted to make it clear to them that he was really enjoying Hermione's company and if they had anything to say about it, they were to keep it to themselves.

They went through the rest of the day as usual. Hermione pushed her hardest to ensure all her work was finished during the day so she would have nothing she needed to do after school. Draco made sure his father was aware he would be taking the Jaguar out after school and that he had after school plans so he would be home late.

As the last bell of the day rang to let out class, Hermione was so excited she ran straight outside to wait for him. She texted her parents letting them know she would be home late, and promptly put away her phone to keep an eye out for Draco. She waited outside until he burst through the door with Crabbe and Goyle scurrying behind as usual. He sent them away and walked up to meet her.

"We're over this way." he pointed out into the parking lot. He took her hand in his and led her to the car. They pulled up to the restaurant and found a table outside in the shade.

He ordered a double fudge shake, and she ordered a strawberry chocolate swirl. They sat for an hour or so chatting about their day and sipping their shakes, when Ron staggered up to them out of nowhere stinking of cheap vodka.

"Hermione, what the hell?!" he was clearly three sheets to the wind, and looking for a fight. Hermione was instantly enraged. She stood up next to Malfoy and placed her hand on his shoulder, her grip tightening.

"Ron, your drunk. You need to leave right now." she growled and gave him an icy look, and Draco, seeing how upset she was, squeezed her hand and stood up with her.

"You! What do you want with her Malfoy?! A slimeball like you doesn't deserve her!" Ron started swaying closer to him, clearly intending to hit him. Before he could swing, Hermione jumped forward and decked him right in the nose.

"Leave now, and never speak to me again. I thought we could be friends but you apparently can't handle it." She leaned over him as he was bent over, poised to hit him again if he said the wrong thing. He got up and slowly staggered away with his bloody nose. Malfoy looked shocked at first, but then thought to check on Hermione.

"Are you ok? I knew Weasley was a glutton but I never took him for a drunk, he must have really cared about you." he took her hand and looked it over.

"That's what I thought too at first, but it was not the case. Either way I'm fine. He had that coming for a long time. I'm so sorry about this..I was having a really wonderful time with you." she smiled up at him.

"You don't have to apologize for him. Besides I'm still having a great time with you, and I hope we can have many more." he leaned in and gently kissed her lips. She leaned into him and circled her arms around his neck.

Authors Note:

School-Mahoutokoro

Theme-muggle au-high school

Prompt-Malfoy Hermione pairing

Year 5


End file.
